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My band played to tracks, so I was always on a click. In fact, the click track had a mix of the full band, so I always heard the same thing in my ear every time I played. This made me very consistent, so the band could always count on me being where I needed to be, when I needed to be there. That gave the rest of the band much more freedom, knowing that I wouldn't get pulled down a rabbit hole if the guitarist started to get "fancy".

The whole "live excitement" thing is just about being 'present' while you are playing. It takes practice to be able to put yourself in that headspace without an audience (or whatever external stimulus is needed for you to react to) It also takes teamwork.

But there really is no difference in the guitar player playing to you live and playing to a recording of you playing live. It's all in your head.

What you recommended of considering, the Behringer HA4700, indeed looks best for my goals.

In case you need more headphone O/P capacity and if the HA4700 cannot be chained (unsure), ART makes a very similar model with 6 O/P with same controls for $200 new at a major online retailer: model ARTHeadAmp6-ch headphone amplifier. For specs here is the manufacturer's website: ART Pro Audio. (I have not used ART products previously, so I cannot comment on overall product quality.)

I do have a few follow up questions, please, if you have time for brief reply.

1) Since I have not previously used rack mount units. I found what is reviewed to be a sturdy, 2' high, angled frame, priced at $25. Is using a rack mount as simple as screwing the front brackets onto a frame? I ask because it looks like a rack unit would need something of support underneath though none of the frames I saw sold use such support.

2) Separately of question about the HA4700, can the rhythm guitarist get a better sense of his/her signal as well as the bass guitarist by setting their tone controls toward treble, bass, respectively?

3) With you using the HD280's, which I am also purchasing for musicians, is the bassist or drummer experiencing any weak bass response with the phones as some reviewers have commented, others specifically say not a problem? If so, does bass tonal control with the HA4700 compensate well?

4) Lastly, I may not be using stereo, in general, for playback while multitracking parts, but I am interested in seeing if vocalists tend to get a better sense of their signal (voice location/pitch) by sending the playback and his/her signal in stereo, using a bit more volume for the vocalist's signal. Any thoughts on this as of benefit for vocalists?

Thank you for the advice on the HA4700; I saw a way to do what I wanted, but it would have cost about $400 in equipment--I just never considered a rack mount as I thought mounting would be an added budget expense, if indeed the simple rack I saw will be typical of all that is needed.

In some ways it's cheaper to build something like the HA4700 than to build several smaller devices. Four headphone amps sharing a case means they don't have to have more external connectors, they can be wired together internally on the circuit board. It costs less to provide one larger power supply than four smaller ones. One company can use one basic case and power supply design for a bunch of different products, saving them even more money.